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Select photos from Alyssa’s bridal session at The Springs in Boerne. It’s always a pleasure to shoot bridal photos at wedding venues. The lack of traffic and interruptions allows for a much more creative atmosphere. For the bride it means comfortable accommodations to get ready without the limitations of a makeshift location. Of course I always schedule so the photography session runs through sunset so we can make the best of the beautiful light.

Beautiful entrance door at The Springs in Boerne

Along the water at The Springs in Boerne

Along the water at The Springs in Boerne

Beautiful sunset light at The Springs in Boerne

Along the water at The Springs in Boerne

Along the water at The Springs in Boerne

Gorgeous sunset at The Springs in Boerne

Beautiful entrance door at The Springs in Boerne

The woodwork and ceilings are an attractive feature of The Springs in Boerne

The stairs are a main feature of the reception area at The Springs in Boerne

On the grounds of The Springs near New Braunfels, Maizey and Aaron confirmed their love for one another. As the sunset drew near, the wedding ceremony concluded ushering in a wonderful night of celebration and fun. Being able to witness and photograph the entire day was such a fun experience. The transition from anxiousness and excitement to joy and delight could be seen as the day progressed, and it was a pleasure capturing the intimate moments throughout.

Time of day can play a big role in creating beautiful photographs. It is always fun to plan out a shoot so that it finishes up around sunset. Not only is the light fantastic, but for engagement and couple shoots everyone is at ease and feeling comfortable. The images take on a rich atmosphere and the gorgeous sunset color compliment the images nicely.

For Sueyon and Joel we settled on the McNay Art Museum as the location for their engagement photos. The McNay has a long history with area photographers and provides a gorgeous backdrop with varied scenes and wonderful architecture. My challenge with familiar locations is keeping the images creative and fresh. It is easy to fall into a pattern of always shooting the same set-up, but with the McNay there is a wide range of opportunities for unique shots.

The late day shoot was perfect and we made good use of the sunset and clouds to create some incredible images that they both loved. Congrats Sueyon and Joel, and thanks for a wonderful evening at the McNay.

Many of you may remember Stephanie’s wedding dress photos from last year. That will be a shoot I will not soon forget. It was one of the lengthiest shoots I have done. At a bit over 5 hours we covered a range of concepts and left the location exhausted. Stephanie had an endless supply of props; still don’t think we shot everything she had ideas for. The sky was absolutely perfect!! I feared for my equipment…electronics and water don’t mix. The fact that there was water in a San Antonio creek during a record drought was amazing.

Narrowing the photos down to the 10 I posted was extremely difficult. We had so many fantastic images, and I knew at some point I would revisit the images. One concept that I withheld from the first post was the snorkel and flipper shots. After browsing through the images again today I decided to post the one below. My tendency is always to shoot into the sunset. Everyone knows you get the most brilliant colors and supplementing that with some dramatic lighting makes for sensational photos. Once we moved into the larger pond area, the backdrop towards the sunset was not very appealing. With multiple obstructions and unclean lines I opted to shoot away from the sunset. Hey what do you know, there is that awesome sky now providing brilliant color in the opposite direction as well. The clouds added just the right mood and effect to make for an amazing background.

There are two distinct impressions made by this exotic; the incredible smell of the leather, and the undeniable sound of the engine. That may seem rather odd since I could go on about the gorgeous sleek lines of the body, and the unbelievable power this vehicle generates. The car instills confidence in the driver, I could see how you could get into trouble real quick by driving with a lack of restraint. This is a tight, solid, racing machine, that begs to be driven hard.

Ok, back to the real world, there is no financial way for me to get spoiled, so it is time to return from fantasy land. Big thanks to Aj though, for allowing me to dream and play, even if I did show a heavy dose of restraint. The goal was to get some practical shots of the car, in case it goes on the sales block, and a more selfish goal of some stunning artistic images.

I arrived with about an hour and a half to go before sunset. Aj and I had decided to shoot the Ferrari in the area of his house since there are some spectacular sunset views. We hopped in the car, really there is no hop to it since you are nearly sitting on the ground, and headed off to a nearby ridge that overlooks Bulverde. A note of caution for anyone riding passenger in a Ferrari; be prepared for the owner to glue you to the seat as he romps on the accelerator. Because he is going to stomp on the accelerator, refer back to the “restraint” comment if you don’t believe me.

The ridge was perfect so we headed off to fuel up and get back to the house for some detail shots. The shots were pretty straight forward with some additional lighting to pull out detail of the interior, engine compartment, and accessories. I took a shot of Aj coming up the road with some additional off camera flash for fun. Then we loaded up my gear and headed back over to the ridge. Along the way Aj pulls over and jumps out, telling me it’s my turn. Holly cow, seriously! Remember the “restraint” I mentioned? It doesn’t take much to realize it is a tight handling, solid racing machine. Yes I showed a good dose of restraint, yes it is one fine high performance ride.

Perfect timing, the sun was just setting, as I pulled up to the top of the ridge, but it meant I had to work quickly. We got the Ferrari positioned and I set out my lighting where I thought it would be most effective. I fired a couple test shots, decided to throw an umbrella on my main light and fired about 6-7 more frames. At that point Aj wanted me to get some standard panel and details shots before we lost all our ambient light. Check, with those taken care of we shot a few more various images before turning the Ferrari around and changing the setup.

I cranked out a few more shots with the sunset in the background then I swung around to shoot from the front. I quickly changed up the lighting, added AJ into the scene, and got a few more stunning images. Ok, right, I know what you are thinking, and yes it is hard to take a “bad” photo of this car. From every angle it looks powerful, and it is. Here are some of the images we created, which will open into larger versions if you click on them.

Yes tha’s me driving…I had to include it, and kudos to Aj for the good shot.

A trip to downtown San Antonio with Kate and Luke was just the ticket for their engagement session. Photographing the two in and around the River Walk was such fun and you can never discount the fantastic winter weather here in Texas. The two were so relaxed and the images were coming out great making it hard to wrap up the session there and head on to Brackenridge Park. Our timing could not have been more perfect putting us in the park right at sunset. After such a great engagement session I am really looking forward to the wedding.

I had the pleasure of photographing Steve a couple of weeks ago, and he is the sort that is comfortable in any situation. Steve likes to connect, and he has plenty of stories to keep the conversation going. Having been in the San Antonio area for some time, Steve reminisced on the growth the city has seen over the past 30 years, and how much he loves it here. I caught up with Steve just before he was leaving on a road trip to Florida to visit with family for the holidays. We met just shortly before sunset to take advantage of Walker Ranch Park, one of my favs for portrait work.